Annual variation in breeding success in boreal forest grouse: Four decades of monitoring reveals bottom-up drivers to be more important than predation.

ABSTRACT: Knowledge of the temporal variation in reproductive success and its key driving factors is crucial in predicting animal population persistence. Few studies have examined the effects of a range of explanatory factors operating simultaneously on the same population over a long period. Based on 41 years of monitoring (1979-2019), we tested prevailing hypotheses about drivers of annual variation in breeding success in two sympatric species of boreal forest grouse-the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) and the black grouse (T. tetrix)-in a 45 km² boreal forest landscape. From counts in early August, we measured breeding success (chicks/hen) along with potential determining factors. We formulated five main hypotheses on causes of variation (hen condition, chick weather, chi

SUBMITTER: Wegge P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9548575 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature